Milling cutters, in particular side milling cutters, are used for the chip-removing machining of workpieces, wherein the milling cutter rotates so that a relative movement between the workpiece and the milling cutter ensues. The milling cutter rotates about an axis of rotation, wherein cutting inserts arranged on the milling cutter remove material from the workpiece during the rotation. The milling cutter and/or the workpiece can furthermore experience a feed motion that is variably adjustable as needed, mostly orthogonally to the axis of rotation. Accordingly, the respective cutting inserts are not continuously engaged with the workpiece during machining of the workpiece but only when the cutting inserts are in a region of the workpiece that has not been machined yet.
The cutting inserts that are used in the milling cutters are generally arranged or clamped on a tool body of the milling cutter via clamping elements. The tool body comprises appropriate receiving areas for the cutting inserts and the clamping elements so that a defined mounting of the cutting inserts is ensured.
Generally, the cutting inserts are clamped by their associated clamping element against a stop surface on the tool body. The alignment as well as the orientation of the cutting insert is in this case also carried out via the clamping element, which generally clamps the cutting insert in the region of one of its cutting edges.
When setting a desired cutting angle, the positioning and the orientation of the cutting inserts requires the utmost attention by the operator of the milling cutter.